UConn Hospital Goes Heavy on Controversial Scans

Nationally, when a patient shows up at a hospital for medical imaging for a chest or abdominal malady, the chances that he or she will need a “combination” CT scan, which entails an excess radiation risk, are slim: 5 percent in the case of chest scans, and 19 percent for abdominal scans.

Not so at UConn’s John Dempsey Hospital, where 48 percent of all patients who received CT scans of the chest were subjected to combination scans—nearly 10 times the national average—according to data collected by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS]. And more than 72 percent of patients who were sent for CT scans of the abdomen received double scans. The data, from 2008, is the most recent available.

Combination scans have come under scrutiny because they may unnecessarily expose patients to excess radiation. Standards of quality care say that most patients who get a CT scan of the chest should be given a single CT scan, rather than a double study. “Combination scans are usually not appropriate for the chest,” CMS guidelines say.

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